Parent who took a stand comes forward

I would like to thank you for bringing forward this issue. As the father of the affected child in the article, I saw him go from being passionate about attending school to waking up 8-9 times per night and begging us not to send him back to class. At the request of his former teachers, we took a stand (unfortunately, they fell silent). Our efforts to go through the district's procedures proved confusing, contradictory, and fruitless. Unfortunately, the present system allows the foxes to watch the henhouse. Absent jarring physical evidence it is very doubtful school administrators, teachers, unions, and district administrators would act appropriately. Perhaps it is time to have cameras/audio recording ongoing in the classroom to protect both kids and those teachers who may be falsely accused.

Rafael Fernandez

It's about time the hidden abuses in the San Diego Unified School District are starting to be publicly revealed (see Watchdog article 11/22/12)! Hardy Elementary School sounds like it has a lot to explain. As parents in the SDUSD for almost a decade we have heard horrifying tales of emotional abuse going on in our district and as far as anyone can tell ALL of these teachers are still either teaching in the classroom or are still employed by the district. Many parents we know are moving their children out of the SDUSD because our school district does not seem to recognize or report cases of emotional abuse of students by teachers. And even cases of physical and/or sexual abuse does not result in the termination of the teacher, but rather a mere "transfer" of the teacher. It seems a no-brainer that ANY claim of perceived abuse of a child in the schools, be it physical, sexual, emotional or verbal, should NOT be processed through the district's internal system but rather through the authorities of the SDPD and CPS. The state penal code REQUIRES all school staff to report suspected cases of abuse to child welfare or police and, as parents currently in the SDUSD, we demand that our district uphold this law at all times in all cases with all of our children.

Lucy Wuellner

San Diego

Sometimes, with childlike faith, parents hand over their children, their most precious gifts, to us, their teachers.

Most of the time, this extraordinary responsibility is accepted with relish and devotion to purpose: “to protect the health and safety of our students, to honor their integrity and to influence them through constructive criticism rather than by ridicule and harassment.”

Occasionally, some of us fail in our call to honor our students. When any form of child abuse happens, all of us, parents and educators must have the courage to immediately address the violations of our children and students to experience a safe and loving environment in their classrooms.

Teachers who abuse must be revealed, understood, forgiven, counseled and, if there is no atonement, removed from the profession. Nothing less.

Boyer P. August, Ed. D.

Teacher, Administrator, Therapist

San Diego Unified School officials stated child abuse reports are taken seriously. That was hard to swallow. The California Department of Education has found San Diego Unified School District out of compliance in the legal requirement of the School Safety Plan, which focuses on the protection of our children in public schools. Area Superintendent David Lorden's remark that “Until we prove otherwise, they are just allegations” is very, very disturbing. A little kid up against an abusive adult? That's so scary for a child to come forward. Try to report abuse to the school police and see how far you get. An investigation of the San Diego Unified School District by the San Diego County District Attorney or the State Attorney General is needed to ensure students are free from abuse by the adults to whom parents entrust their children because Aaron Burgin's report was just the tip of the iceberg.

Sally Smith

San Diego

The protection of children should be paramount, especially in an education system. Students need to have a reporting process that involves trained child abuse police investigators that are not part of the San Diego Unified School District.